Congratulations to the latest E-Zero designees under the Coast Guard’s QUALSHIP 21 program! QUALSHIP 21 recognizes foreign ships that have demonstrated the highest commitment to maintaining strict compliance with U.S. and international safety, security and environmental regulations.

The U.S. Coast Guard will hold a public town hall meeting December 11, 2017, to disseminate information related to the 2020 entry into force of international standards affecting the testing and maintenance of lifeboats, rescue boats and launching appliances, and authorization of service providers. This meeting pertains to new requirements the IMO adopted in 2016 related to maintenance of lifesaving equipment on vessels subject to SOLAS.

In an effort to better recognize those companies, operators, and vessels that have earned the E-Zero designation on their QUALSHIP 21 certificate, each month Maritime Commons will publish the names of the latest vessels to earn the E-Zero designation.

The MBI concluded that the primary cause of the casualty was the decision to navigate El Faro too close to the path of Hurricane Joaquin. As the MBI expanded the investigation to explore other contributing factors, it uncovered evidence of an ineffective safety management system within the operating company, and failures by both the Coast Guard delegated representative and the Coast Guard itself to provide effective oversight of the vessel’s compliance with safety regulations.

Field Notice 01-17 provides Coast Guard expectations for dealing with alarms from EGCSs, where such alarms are triggered by short-term temporary emission exceedances due to predictable operations of vessels, such as engine load changes. Field Notice 01-17 is intended for vessels operating in the U.S. portion of the North American Emission Control Area (ECA) and the U.S. Caribbean Sea ECA.

The new E-Zero designation is part of the QUALSHIP 21 program, whereby ships are further recognized for achieving a high level of environmental compliance and sustained performance. Approximately 15 percent of existing QUALSHIP 21 ships will receive the E-Zero designation.

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This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.